Yolanda survivors want Liza Maza as DSWD chief

The survivors of the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013 from Homonhon Island in Eastern Samar are urging incoming president Rodrigo Duterte to appoint Liza Maza as the new secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Liza Maza was the first person to bring help to the Yolanda survivors in Homonhon Island after it was devastated by the super typhoon. She brought food, a motor boat, fertilizer, tools and other goods to help the residents cope with the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda.

(Liza Maza, together with her group, gave help that included rice, shovels, hammers, and the like. What she did is the kind of quality service that the next DSWD secretary should be able to provide.)

However, the DSWD secretary's role is one of the four government posts that the presumptive president has offered to the nominations of the left.

For this reason, the beneficiaries of Maza’s relief operation in Homonhon Island are urging the reds to choose Maza as their nomination for the DSWD post. They explained that Maza was able to help a lot of people even if she was not holding any public office.

One of the Yolanda survivors from Homonhon Island, Daniel Lagos, told Rappler that Maza was the first one to show up to bring the necessary assistance for the residents. On the other hand, DSWD’s Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) during Dinky Soliman’s term as the secretary only arrived in Homonhon more than two years after Typhoon Yolanda hit the island.